Methods and devices for automatically making large quantities of pre-cooked eggs having a natural appearance

ABSTRACT

The present invention includes methods and devices for mass producing cooked, cooled egg products having a grill fried egg appearance. One device includes a portion for positioning whole, intact, shelled eggs positioned laterally across and above a cooking mold conveyor, and a portion for cracking the eggshells and depositing the eggs into cooking molds on the conveyor. Some devices and methods include an egg yolk splitter for rupturing the egg yolk sac to deposit a whole egg having a ruptured egg yolk into each mold. Other devices and methods include irregular shaped egg molds for providing a mass produced cooked egg having a natural, irregular shaped outlines and/or surfaces. Devices and methods according to the present invention can be used to produce irregular, outlined shaped cooked egg products including whole eggs, formulated eggs, or eggs made from scrambled egg mixes. The pre-cooked eggs can be delivered pathogen free to fast food establishments and reheated for consumers in less time than required to cook the egg.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related generally to food processing. Morespecifically, the present invention is related to egg cooking methodsand devices for mass producing cooked egg products.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Individuals increasingly eat food away from home, or at home, at work,or even in an automobile, where the food was at least partially preparedor precooked outside at the home. Grill fried eggs are well known andhave been made for centuries. Consumers prepare grill fried eggs athome, and also eat grill fried eggs prepared in eating establishments.The grill fried eggs are aesthetically pleasing to consumers, perhapsbecause grill fried eggs have the appearance of home cooked food and/orfood prepared at well-established restaurants.

Many consumers demand eggs prepared at ever-increasingly short timeintervals. Some consumers expect cooked eggs to be made available in thetime between ordering a product at a speaker post, and the arrival oftheir automobile at a drive-up window in a fast food establishment.Other consumers expect eggs to be made available shortly after payingfor the eggs at the counter of a fast food restaurant, expecting toreceive the cooked eggs in less than the time required to cook the eggs,for example, within one minute.

Some fast food restaurants grill fry eggs ahead of time, prior to theirbeing ordered. One such fast food restaurant uses a three-inch ring,open at the bottom, in sets of six. These are put on the grill, the eggdeposited in the ring, then covered and steamed. These restaurantprepared eggs, while nutritious, do not closely resemble home, grillfried eggs. They are also made prior to being ordered, allowing for thepossibility of wastage if they are not sold within an allotted timeperiod.

Another fast food establishment uses a three and one-quarter inch ring,breaks the egg, puts the egg into the ring, breaks the yolk, andpartially cooks the egg. The partially cooked egg is flipped over in thering, and the ring removed. This allows the remainder of the egg to cookand flow outwardly somewhat. This method also requires the eggs to bemade ahead of the short time demanded by some consumers, with the cookedeggs being readily distinguishable from an irregular or randomly shaped,home grill fried egg.

Such cooking methods suffer from drawbacks. Firstly, if the eggs are tobe delivered to consumers in a time period less than the time requiredto break the eggs, cook the eggs, and package the cooked egg product,then the eggs must be cooked prior to the time of ordering. This allowsfor some wastage, as previously discussed. Secondly, while modern eggsare typically very safely delivered from almost all vendors, thepossibility exists for some pathogens being carried with the eggs. Whilethis occurrence is extremely rare, it has happened. Thirdly, the manualpreparation of grill fried eggs is somewhat time and labor consuming. Insome situations, the cooking grill would not otherwise be required butfor the requirement for cooking the grill fried eggs.

What would be desirable are methods and devices for mass producingpre-cooked, cooled eggs that resemble grill fried eggs. Such eggs couldbe mass produced in a controlled environment to substantially reduce thechance of pathogen contamination. The mass produced, precooked, cooledeggs would preferably resemble home cooked grilled eggs. If massproduced, grill fried eggs were made available, fast food eatingestablishments could save on labor, and reduce wastage by reheating thepreviously cooked egg products. What would be most desirable arepre-cooked, cooled, egg products that resemble home, grill fried eggsthat could be prepared at a fast food establishment in less than thetime required to cook the eggs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides methods for mass producing cooked, cooledeggs having a grill fried egg appearance. One method includes depositingan egg product into a plurality of mold depressions, wherein the moldshave irregular shaped boundaries. Another method includes depositing anegg product into a plurality of mold depressions having an irregularlyvarying depth and bottom surface. The methods can further includecooking the deposited egg products in the molds, removing the cooked eggproducts from the molds, and cooling the cooked egg products below roomtemperature. Some methods include depositing whole eggs with intactyolks, while other methods include depositing whole eggs having brokenyolks. The methods may include allowing the yolk to settle into a minordepression located within the major depression of the mold. In somemethods, the yolks are broken by dropping the whole eggs through an eggyolk rupturing device having sharp edges. Still other methods includedepositing scrambled egg products or formulated egg products.

In some methods, the mold depressions are arranged side to side in a panalong a width dimension, and the pans arranged end to end along a lengthdimension, in which the depositing includes depositing a plurality ofeggs along the width into the plurality of mold depressions atsubstantially the same time. The depositing can occur when the mold pansare moving. In some methods, the shelled eggs are located a firstdistance apart while the eggs are broken, and are diverted to a seconddistance apart, further apart than the first distance, to be depositedinto mold depressions located approximately the second distance apart oncenter.

The present invention provides a method for breaking egg yolks includingdropping the egg yolks through a device for rupturing the egg yolk sacs.In some methods, the device includes an orifice having sharp edges, andthe method includes dropping the egg yolks through the orifice havingthe sharp edges. Some devices include a plate having an orifice withsharp inwardly protruding edges, and the method can include dropping theegg yolks through the orifice having the sharp edges. In some methods,the device has a plurality of orifices, and can receive a plurality ofegg yolks simultaneously. The plurality of orifices can be arranged in aside by side pattern. In some methods, the egg yolk sac rupturing devicehas a plurality of orifices each disposed in a downwardly extended ordepressed plate portion.

The present invention further provides an egg mold for producing eggshaving irregular shaped peripheries, the mold including a planar surfacehaving a depression therein, wherein the depression has an irregularlyshaped outline. In some molds, the depression outline is asymmetricabout any vertical plane drawn through the planar surface and thedepression. The mold is preferable formed of a nonstick, food gradematerial, at least at the surface. Some egg molds are formed as aplurality of depressions in the planar surface of an egg mold pan.

Some molds have a top surface and include a first depression having afirst bottom surface and a first depth relative to the top surface, andalso include a second depression having a second bottom surface and asecond depth relative to the top surface. The first and/or second bottomsurface depth can vary over the respective surface. In some molds thesecond depression has a surface area at least {fraction (1/10)}th or{fraction (1/6)}th the surface area of the first depression. The seconddepression can have a mean depth of at least ¼ or ⅓ greater than themean depth of the first depression. The yolk, either intact, broken, orformulated, can be allowed to settle into the second depression,providing a cooked egg product having a prominent cooked yolk.

A device for mass producing cooked, fried eggs is also provided by thepresent invention. One device includes an egg breaking device comprisinga plurality of vertically oriented, side-by-side, egg carousels, wherethe egg carrying carousels each have a plurality of egg carrier cupsrotatably disposed about a horizontal central axis, the egg carriercarousels traveling along a closed loop partly lying within a verticalplane. The device can further comprise an eggshell breaking knife forbreaking the eggshells while the eggs are disposed within the eggcarrying cups. The device can also include a moving belt including aplurality of pans, with each pan having a plurality of egg cooking molddepressions disposed side-by-side therein. The molds can be disposed toeach receive a falling egg from the egg breaking device. In somedevices, the molds are disposed directly under the egg carrying cups atthe point at which the shells are broken. Other devices include chutesor deflectors to deflect the falling eggs from the egg carrying cupslaterally outward to a distance further apart than the egg carrying cupsare located from each other, to insure depositing the falling eggs intothe molds. In still other devices, an egg yolk breaking device having anorifice for receiving a falling liquid whole egg and having sharp edgesfor rupturing the egg yolk sack of the falling egg yolk is disposedbetween the egg carrying cup and the cooking mold. In some devices, themolds have an irregular outline shape, as previously described.

The present invention also provides a cooked, cooled egg productcomprising a plurality of cooked egg products having a substantiallyplanar shape and having an irregular shaped outline, in which asubstantial portion of the eggs have the same irregular shaped outline,in which the cooked egg products have a temperature of less than 30°centigrade. The cooked egg products are whole eggs having intact yolksin some embodiments, are whole eggs having broken yolks in otherembodiments, are scrambled eggs in still other embodiments, and areformulated egg products in yet other embodiments. Some egg products havean irregular shaped surface having an irregularly varying height overthe product. Other egg products are cooked formulated eggs having aformulated egg yolk portion and/or a formulated egg white portion,resembling a sunny-side-up fried egg. This product can be made bydepositing the formulated yolk into a secondary mold depression anddepositing the formulated egg white into a primary mold depressionhaving the secondary depression within.

The present invention also includes methods for making cooked whole eggsincluding automatically conveying eggs to an egg breaking location,automatically breaking the egg shells of the whole eggs, allowing thecontents of one egg shell to fall into one mold, automatically conveyingeach mold into a heated area, and cooking the egg contents in each moldin the heated area.

Some automatic methods include methods for making cooked whole eggs bymechanically conveying a plurality of whole, shelled eggs, mechanicallybreaking the conveyed plurality of egg shells, allowing the egg contentsto fall into a plurality of molds, mechanically conveying the moldscontaining the egg contents into a heating area, and cooking the eggcontents in the molds. Each mold receiving egg content preferablyreceives one and only one whole egg content. The mechanical methods caninclude mechanisms selected from the group consisting of purelymechanical, pneumatic, electrical, magnetic, hydraulic, andelectromechanical mechanisms and combinations thereof. Some methodsinclude mechanically carrying each egg in an egg carrier, mechanicallybreaking the egg shell with a knife, and moving a belt or loop formed oflinked articulated molds into the heating area. The molds used and theresulting cooked eggs can have round outlines, symmetrical outlines,irregular outlines, irregular surfaces, and/or two different and nestedlevels of surfaces.

The present invention provides, generally, a device for mass producingcooked eggs having a grill fried egg appearance. The device includes afirst part for positioning eggs in a spaced apart relationship from eachother and for breaking the eggshells, allowing the whole egg productswithin to fall. The device also includes a second part, including a belthaving a plurality of egg cooking molds disposed to capture the falling,whole egg products within the molds. The molds can be disposed on alongitudinally moving belt, which can propel the deposited eggs in thecooking molds toward an oven.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a photograph of three natural whole eggs having broken yolksand an irregular outline or periphery;

FIG. 2 is a photograph of three cooked eggs having irregular outlinesmade from scrambled egg mix;

FIG. 3 is a photograph of three formulated eggs having irregular shapedoutlines;

FIG. 4 is a photograph of a mold having an irregular shaped outline thatcan be used to make some of the irregular shaped eggs in FIGS. 1-3;

FIG. 5 is a photograph of another mold having an irregular shapedoutline that can be used to make some of the irregular shaped eggs ofFIGS. 1-3;

FIG. 6 is a photograph of yet another mold having an irregular shapedoutline or periphery that can be used to make some of the eggs of FIGS.1-3;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a pan having three molds each having afirst depression and a second depression with the first depression;

FIG. 8 is a top view photograph of a pan having a mold having a firstdepression and four more depressions within the first depression;

FIG. 9 is a top view photograph of a pan having a mold having anirregular shaped outline, an irregular depth bottom surface, a firstdepression, and four more depressions within the first depression;

FIG. 10 is a top view of a cooked egg product made using the molds ofFIGS. 8 and 9;

FIG. 11 is a photograph of a whole egg having a broken yolk and asubstantially regular outline;

FIG. 12 is a photograph of a whole cooked egg having an unbroken yolk;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a egg yolk breaking device that can beused to make the broken yolk cooked egg of FIG. 11, the breaking deviceshown partially retracted from an egg breaking machine;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an egg breaking machine having severalvertical egg carrying carousels disposed side-by-side for breakingshelled eggs and dropping the liquid eggs through five deflectors orchutes into cooking molds disposed under the five chutes;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the five deflectors or chutes of FIG.14, adapted to receive falling eggs from the narrowly-spaced verticalegg carrying carousels and for depositing the liquid whole eggs intowider-spaced cooking molds; and

FIG. 16 is a side view of the egg breaking carousel device of FIG. 14,where the shelled eggs could be broken and dropped at the left onto therotating belt of cooking molds.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a photograph illustrating three cooked, whole, natural eggshaving irregular outlines made by a method of the present invention,that resemble flat grill fried eggs. FIG. 1 includes a first egg 30having a yolk 31 and an irregular outline or periphery 32. The irregularoutline 32 may be seen to be irregular, and is not round, square,rectangular, or oval. As may be seen from inspection of FIG. 1, there isno axis of symmetry that can be drawn through egg 30 that will result ina mirror image being formed on either side of the axis of symmetry.

Irregular outline 32, in the embodiment illustrated, includes outward orconvex protuberance 34 and inward or concave region 36. Convexprotuberance 34 and concave protuberance 36 may be seen to besubstantially rounded in appearance. Another outward vertex 38 may beseen, being formed between a first substantially straight region 40 anda second substantially straight region 42. Yet another outwardprotuberance or convex region 48 may be seen formed between a firstconcave region 44 and a second concave region 46. A broken yolk 31 maybe seen within egg 30. The present invention includes both eggs havingbroken and unbroken yolks.

FIG. 1 also includes a second whole, cooked natural egg 50 having anirregular outline and a broken yolk 54. A third, whole, cooked naturalegg 56 may be seen, also having an irregular outline 58. Eggs 30, 50,and 56 may all be seen to have different irregular outlines.

FIG. 2 illustrates three cooked eggs product formed from a scrambled eggmix. A first scrambled egg 60 having an irregular outline or periphery62 may be seen. A second scrambled egg 64 having an irregular outline 66is also present in FIG. 2. A third scrambled egg 68 may also be seen,having an irregular outline or periphery 70.

FIG. 3 illustrates three formulated eggs made according to the presentinvention. A first formulated egg 72 having an irregular outline 74 maybe seen. A second formulated egg 76 having an irregular outline orperiphery 78 is also illustrated in FIG. 3. A third formulated egg 80having irregular outline 82 may also be seen. Formulated eggs are wellknown to those skilled in the art. Formulated eggs can be made bycracking whole eggs, separating or substantially separating the yolk andthe albumin, and recombining the yolk and the albumin components to forma cooked egg product resembling a natural, whole, grilled fried cookedegg. The formulated eggs can have the albumin and/or the yolk componentmodified by the addition of substances, for example, gums. The albuminand/or yolk may also be partially or totally replaced. In one suchexample, the yolk may be replaced with a food product resembling anatural yolk, but having a substantially reduced cholesterol component.

FIG. 4 illustrates a first mold 90 having an irregular outline 92 thatcan be used to form and cook the cooked egg products, for example, eggs30, 60, and 72 of FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Mold 90 can be madeby punching a sheet metal material with an irregular outline stamp orpunch, resulting in the irregular shaped outline 92 seen in FIG. 4. Avertically beveled or stepped periphery 96 may be seen in FIG. 4 aswell. Mold 90 can include a substantially flat bottom surface 94. Mold90 can further be coated with a food grade, non-stick material, forexample, Teflon (PTFE).

FIG. 5 illustrates a second mold 98 having an irregular outline 100 thatcan be used to make cooked eggs having an irregular outline, forexample, eggs 50, 64, and 80 of FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, respectively.

FIG. 6 illustrates a third mold 102 having an irregular outline 104 thatcan be used to make cooked egg products, for example, eggs 56, 68, and76, of FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, respectively.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 through 6, the present invention includesmethods to include a pre-cooked egg product with a shape that simulatesthat of a fresh egg product that has been cooked on a flat grillsurface. This method can utilize a pan with an irregular shaped mold inwhich the liquid egg product is deposited. The molds of FIGS. 4 through6 have been designed from actual egg products cooked on a grill toprovide a finished product that simulates this irregular shape. Theliquid egg product can be deposited into pans having the irregular moldformed as part of the pan. This egg product can then be cooked in thepan to a minimum temperature of 170 degrees Fahrenheit. The cooked eggproduct can then be cooled. This method includes both frozen andrefrigerated products, and includes, but is not limited to, the cookingof natural whole eggs, scrambled egg mixes, and formulated eggs.

The irregular shaped cooked egg products of FIGS. 1 through 3 canprovide a natural looking egg product that more closely resembles thatof products cooked on a flat grill. The end user can rapidly reheat thisproduct and provide a more natural looking product without having tocook a liquid egg product on a grill. The precooked, cooled eggs madeaccording to the present invention can be more easily delivered pathogenfree to the end user. Wastage can be reduced as the individual eggs canbe heated on an as-needed basis.

Another aspect of the present invention includes methods for makingcooked egg products having broken yolks and the cooked egg products madeaccording to these methods. The time required to fully cook the yolkportion of a fried egg with intact yolk exceeds the time required tofully cook the white portion due to the increased thickness of the yolk.This can result in overcooking of the white portion of the egg in orderto fully cook the yolk. The present invention includes a method forbreaking the yolk in order to minimize the differences in thicknessassociated with an egg with an unbroken yolk. This method also improvesprocess efficiencies by reducing the total amount of time necessary tofully cook the egg to an internal temperature of 170 degrees Fahrenheit.The time required to cook an egg with an unbroken yolk can be between 25percent and 75 percent longer than cooking an egg that has a brokenyolk. The cooking of the egg with a broken yolk also results in a moreuniform cooking of the egg, which results in improved texture.

FIG. 7 illustrates a pan 200 including a top planar surface 202 andthree egg molds 204, 206, and 208 therein. Molds 204 and 206 are similarwhile mold 208 is somewhat different. Mold 204 includes a firstdownwardly extending or sloped region 210 followed by a first planarhorizontal region 212. Planar region 212 is followed by a seconddownwardly sloped or extending region 214 followed in turn by a bottomcupped or rounded region 216. A first or primary depression is thusformed by first sloped region 210 and first planar region 212. A secondor secondary depression is thus formed by second sloped region 214 andbottom cupped or rounded region 216. Mold 208 includes regions 210, 212,and 214, as discussed with respect to mold 204. Mold 208 includes abottom flat region 218, rather than a bottom rounded region 216 as inmold 204. Mold 208 includes a second or secondary depression formed fromsecond sloped region 214 and bottom flat region 218.

In some embodiments, the second depression has a surface area of atleast about {fraction (1/10)}^(th) or ⅙^(th) the surface area of thefirst or primary depression. As used herein, the term “surface area”refers to the projection of the surface area onto the top planar surface202. Thus, the surface area refers to the surface area that ishorizontal when top planar surface 202 is disposed horizontally. Thus,if first sloped region 210 were perfectly perpendicular to top planarsurface 202, then first sloped region 210 would have no surface area.The surface area of the first depression, for the purposes of thisapplication, includes the combined surface area of the first and thesecond depressions. The first depression has a depth relative to topplanar surface 202. In the example illustrated, the depth of the firstdepression is the distance between first planar region 212 and topsurface 202. The second or secondary depression also has a depthrelative to top planar surface 202. This depth is the maximum distancewithin the second or secondary depression and the top planar surface. Insome embodiments, the depth of the second depression is at least ¼^(th)or even ⅓^(rd) greater than the depth of the first depression. The moldsof the present invention have a major width dimension of less than 6inches and 4 inches, and a maximum depth of less then 1½ inches, 1 inch,and {fraction (3/4)} inch, in various embodiments.

In use, a yolk can be deposited into the second depression while an eggwhite is deposited into the first depression. The yolk may be a wholeintact yolk, a whole egg broken yolk, or a formulated yolk, depending onthe embodiment. In some methods, the yolk is deposited into the seconddepression first, followed by depositing the egg white, either natural,enhanced, or formulated. In other methods, the egg is deposited at once,and the yolk allowed to settle into the second depression. In one suchmethod, the yolk is a formulated yolk, having a heavier density than theegg white. The heavier density formulated yolk thus settles into thesecond depression while the egg white is primarily located within thefirst depression. Pan 200 can then be subjected to heating, thus cookingthe egg products within the molds. The pan can then be inverted and thecooked egg products dislodged. The resulting egg products will have theyolk portion prominently displayed, resembling a grill fried sunny sideup cooked egg. The resulting cooked egg can be a natural whole egg, oran egg having a formulated yolk and/or white portion.

FIG. 8 illustrates another cooking pan 230 according to the presentinvention. Pan 230 includes a top planar surface 232 and a mold 233.Mold 233 includes generally a first depression 234 and four secondarydepressions 236 formed within primary depression 234. As may be seenfrom inspecting FIG. 8, both primary depression 234 and secondarydepressions 236 have a substantially smooth appearance.

FIG. 9 illustrates another cooking pan 240 having a mold 241 therein.Mold 241 includes an irregular shaped outline 242 and a primarydepression 244. Primary depression 244 includes four secondarydepressions 246, 247, 248, and 249, each having an irregular surface.The depth of the secondary depressions may be seen to vary over the areaof the secondary depressions. In the examples illustrated in FIGS. 8 and9, the four secondary depressions are each roughly disposed within onequadrant of the mold.

FIG. 10 illustrates a cooked egg product produced using the molds ofFIGS. 8 and 9. Cooked egg product 250 may be seen to have an irregularheight surface 252 thereover, the result of being cooked using mold 233of FIG. 8. Another cooked egg product 254 is also seen, having anirregularly varying height surface 256. Cooked egg product 254 is theresult of an egg product being cooked in mold 241 of FIG. 9. Both cookedegg products 250 and 254 may be seen to have four raised regions, one ineach quadrant, the result of being cooked in the secondary depressionsof the molds of FIGS. 8 and 9. The irregular height of cooked eggproduct 250 is also the result of the raised ridge regions of theprimary depression relative to the secondary depression in mold 233 ofFIG. 8.

The irregularly varying height of the cooked egg products in FIG. 10more closely resemble home cooked egg products. In particular, somecooked egg products made using this method more closely resembled grillfried scrambled eggs that have been disturbed or moved during thecooking process, as with a spatula. The eggs may also resemble eggshaving a lighter or fluffier consistency, relative to similar eggshaving a planar, flat or regularly rounded surface. Inspection of theegg products of FIG. 10 also show that in this embodiment of theinvention, that there exists no axis of symmetry about which the raisedportions appear identical or mirror images of each other.

FIG. 11 illustrates a cooked egg 110 having a broken yolk. FIG. 11 maybe contrasted with FIG. 12, illustrating an egg 114 having an intactyolk 116. As is discussed below, the present invention also includesmethods and apparatus for breaking the yolks prior to depositing theeggs. The methods and apparatus used to break the yolks can accomplishthis task rapidly, allowing for incorporation of the devices to massproduce cooked eggs having broken yolks.

The present invention also includes devices for mass producing eggshaving a grill fried egg appearance. The mass produced, cooked, andcooled egg products can include the intact or broken egg yolk products,and/or the irregular shaped cooked egg products previously described.

FIG. 13 illustrates an egg yolk splitting or rupturing device 130. Yolkrupturing device 130 includes a first depression 122, a seconddepression 124, a third depression 126, a fourth depression 128, and afifth depression (not shown). Egg yolk breaking device 130 can be formedfrom a Teflon-coated pan having four inch round depressions stamped intothe pan which can be about 0.65 inches in depth. These depressions canbe positioned to align with mold depressions in the cooking beltunderneath.

In the embodiment illustrated, the bottom of each depression was cutinto eight equal segments 132 separated by openings 134 therebetween.The segments thus formed were then bent downward to form an opening forthe liquid egg contents to pass through. As the liquid egg white andyolk fall through this opening, the pointed portion of each segmentruptures the membrane of the yolk sac, causing it to break. Varyingdegrees of yolk spread on the finished fried egg can be achieved bychanging the size of the opening on the yolk breaker. After the eggpasses through the egg yolk breaker, it can be deposited into the moldon the cooking oven to be cooled. The segments meet at a centralaperture 136 formed at the vertices of the segments. The segments canhave sharp edges, both along their sides and at their vertices, whichcan rupture the egg yolk sac. The present invention includes generallyany device having an aperture with sharp edges, internal or external,for rupturing the egg yolk sac.

FIG. 13 shows that egg yolk breaking device 130 can be used as part ofan egg breaking machine 120. Egg breaking machine 120 may be seen tohave a belt 157 carrying numerous egg carriers 156. Belt 157 is drivenby a first toothed wheel 154 and a second toothed wheel 152 (notillustrated in FIG. 13). A large gear 150 may be seen for driving wheels152 and 154. In normal operation, belt 157 moves toward the right,indicated at arrow 159. Egg breaking machines and egg carriers are wellknown to those skilled in the art, with some being further described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 5,617,782 and 6,234,070, both herein being incorporatedby reference.

FIG. 14 illustrates egg breaking device 120, previously introduced inFIG. 13. First toothed wheel 154, second toothed wheel 152, and drivegear 150 may be noted, to orient device 120 with respect to the viewpreviously shown in FIG. 13. The egg carriers of device 120 are carriedby a closed loop chain or belt that carries egg carriers 162, 164, and166, beneath first toothed wheel 154 and traveling toward the right inFIG. 14. Other egg carriers 168 and 170 (illustrated in FIG. 16) aredisposed above first toothed wheel 154 and travel toward the left inFIG. 14. In normal operation, a whole shelled egg conveyor 172 deliverswhole, shelled eggs to the egg carriers which each carry an egg downwardin a substantially vertical fashion, then breaking the shells, anddepositing the whole eggs onto the cooking pans of the equipment.

The egg carriers may be seen to form 5 side-by-side columns of eggcarriers, for example, egg carriers 160 and 161, disposed alongside eachother and traveling vertically downward at one point. The egg breakingdevice of FIG. 14 may be considered to be, or include, a plurality ofvertically disposed carousels disposed in a side-by-side fashion. Thecarousels could be considered to be circular or circular in at least apart of the belt or chain length, conveying the egg carriers about aclosed loop path each lying substantially within a vertical plane.

The egg carriers at the position indicated at 174 are disposed directlyabove five chutes or deflectors including a right-most chute ordeflector 176 and a left-most chute or deflector 178. The illustratedembodiment utilizes a conventional egg breaking machine, a Diamond W80modified for the present use. A belt 180 having a plurality of pans, forexample, pans 182 and 184 may be seen. Each of the pans includes aplurality of molds or depressions 186. Depressions 186 may be seenlocated a distance apart that is greater than the distance separatingegg carriers 160 and 161. In order to deposit the falling eggs comingfrom egg carriers 160 and 161 into the more widely separated molds 186,chutes or deflectors 176 through 178 may be used to laterally dispersethe falling whole liquid eggs. In the example illustrated in FIG. 14,belt 180 is traveling toward the right, toward an oven. In someembodiments, for producing cooked eggs having broken yolks, yolkbreaking device 130 can be interposed between the egg carriers at 174and chutes or deflectors 176 through 178. The falling, whole eggs canhave the yolks ruptured prior to falling through the chutes, allowingeggs with broken yolks to fall into the cooking pans below.

FIG. 15 illustrates the moving cooking belt having numerous pans 180 anddepressions or molds 186 described with respect to FIG. 14. Chutes ordeflectors 176 and 178 may be seen in FIG. 15 as previously described.Left-most chute or deflector 178 may be seen to have a laterallyoutwardly sloped portion 195 and chute or deflector 176 may be seen tohave an outwardly sloped portion 194. Portions of the middle threechutes or deflectors 190, 191, and 192 may also be seen in FIG. 15.

FIG. 16 illustrates device 120 from the side. Egg carriers 168, 170,162, 164, and 166 may be seen as previously described. Drive gear 150and toothed wheels 154 and 152 may also be seen. Cooking pans 180 may beseen heading rightward toward the cooking oven.

Device 120, in the embodiment illustrated, is based on a modifiedDiamond W80 egg breaker (Diamond Automation, Farmington Hills, Mich.).Modifications to the diamond W80 breaker can include shortening thein-feed conveyor, modifying the frame, and electronic control changes tosynchronize the egg breaking equipment with the cooking oven. Eggs canbe loaded manually onto the in-feed conveyor by means of a vacuum assistmechanism. The eggs can then be positioned into lanes by a series ofguide rods. These eggs can then be transported via spool conveyorrollers to the egg loader where they are deposited into individual eggholders or egg carriers. The eggs can then be cracked with a knifeattachment and the shell spread, allowing the egg contents to drop intothe yolk breaking device. The empty egg shells can then be automaticallydeposited into an auger, which conveys the shells to a holding hopper.The oven, which can be referred to as a mold oven, can be a 40-footgas-fired forced convention oven, made for example by Wolverine-Proctor& Schwartz (Merrimac, Mass.). The cooked eggs can then be cooled in aspiral freezer and packaged. All of the modifications in this paragraphare well within the abilities of those skilled in the art, provided theteachings of the present inventory.

The detailed description above should be read with reference to thedrawings, in which like elements in different drawings are numberedidentically. The drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, depictselected embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of theinvention. Several forms of invention have been shown and described, andother forms will now be apparent to those skilled in art. It will beunderstood that embodiments shown in drawings and described above aremerely for illustrative purposes, and are not intended to limit thescope of the invention as defined in the claims that follow.

1. A method for mass producing cooked eggs, the method comprising:depositing an egg product into a plurality of molds, wherein the moldshave irregular shaped peripheral boundaries; cooking the deposited eggproducts in the molds; removing the cooked egg products from the molds;and cooling the cooked egg products below room temperature.
 2. A methodas in claim 1, in which the egg product includes whole eggs, in whichthe depositing includes depositing the whole eggs.
 3. A method as inclaim 1, in which the egg product includes whole eggs having intactyolks, in which the depositing includes depositing the whole eggs havingintact yolks.
 4. A method as in claim 1, in which the egg productincludes whole eggs having essentially all intact yolks, in which thedepositing includes depositing the whole eggs having essentially allintact yolks.
 5. A method as in claim 1, in which the egg productincludes eggs having broken yolks, in which the depositing includesdepositing the eggs having broken yolks.
 6. A method as in claim 1, inwhich the egg product includes whole eggs having broken yolks, in whichthe depositing includes depositing the whole eggs having broken yolks.7. A method as in claim 6, further comprising breaking the yolks.
 8. Amethod as in claim 6, further comprising breaking the yolks by allowingthe whole eggs to drop through a device for rupturing the egg yolk sac.9. A method as in claim 6, in which the method includes dropping theeggs through an egg yolk sac rupturing orifice having sharp edges forrupturing the egg yolk sac.
 10. A method as in claim 6, in which themethod includes dropping the eggs through a plate having an orificehaving sharp inwardly protruding edges.
 11. A method as in claim 8, inwhich the method includes allowing the eggs having broken yolks to fallinto the molds.
 12. A method as in claim 1, in which the molds arearranged side to side along a width dimension and end to end along alength dimension, in which the depositing includes depositing aplurality of eggs along the width into the plurality of molds atsubstantially the same time.
 13. A method as in claim 12, in which thedepositing includes depositing the plurality of eggs along the widthwhile the molds are moving along the length dimension.
 14. A method asin claim 1, in which the method includes breaking the egg shells whilethe whole eggs are spaced a first distance apart from each other,followed by diverting the broken egg contents in the width dimension toa second distance apart from each other to drop into the molds.
 15. Amethod as in claim 14, further comprising breaking the yolks by allowingthe whole eggs to drop through a device for rupturing the egg yolk sac.16. A method as in claim 14, in which the method includes dropping theeggs through a egg yolk sac rupturing orifice having sharp edges forrupturing the egg yolk sac.
 17. A method as in claim 14, in which themethod includes dropping the eggs through a plate having an orificehaving sharp inwardly protruding edges.
 18. A method as in claim 1,wherein the molds have a first depression and a second depressiondisposed within the first depression, wherein the depositing includesdepositing the egg products into the first and second depressions.
 19. Amethod as in claim 18, wherein the egg product includes whole eggshaving intact yolks, wherein the depositing includes depositing thewhole eggs and allowing the yolks to settle into the second depression.20. A method as in claim 18, wherein the molds include a bottom surfacehaving a depth that varies irregularly over the bottom surface.
 21. Amethod for breaking egg yolks comprising: dropping the egg yolks througha device for rupturing the egg yolk sacs.
 22. A method as in claim 21,in which the device includes an orifice having sharp edges, and in whichthe method includes dropping the egg yolks through the orifice havingsharp edges.
 23. A method as in claim 21, in which the device includes aplate having an orifice having sharp inwardly protruding edges, and inwhich the method includes dropping the egg yolks through the orificehaving sharp edges.
 24. A method as in claim 22, in which the device hasa plurality of orifices and can receive a plurality of egg yolkssimultaneously.
 25. A method as in claim 22, in which the device has aplurality of orifices arranged in a side by side pattern.
 26. A methodas in claim 23, in which the device has a plurality of orifices eachdisposed in a downwardly extending plate portion.
 27. An egg mold forproducing eggs having irregular shaped peripheries comprising: a planarsurface having a depression therein, wherein the depression has anirregular shaped outline.
 28. An egg mold as in claim 27, in which thedepression outline is asymmetric about any vertical plane drawn throughthe planar surface and the depression.
 29. An egg mold as in claim 27,in which the planar surface is formed of a non-stick, food gradematerial.
 30. An egg mold as in claim 27 having a plurality ofdepressions in the planar surface.
 31. An egg mold as in claim 27, inwhich the depression has a flat bottom.
 32. An egg mold as in claim 27,in which the depression has upwardly and outwardly beveled edges.
 33. Anegg mold as in claim 27, wherein the molds include a bottom surfacehaving an irregularly varying depth over the bottom surface.
 34. An eggmold as in claim 27, wherein the depression includes a first depressionand a second depression disposed within the first depression.
 35. Adevice for depositing cracked, liquid whole eggs comprising: an eggbreaking device comprising a plurality of vertically oriented eggcarrying carousels, wherein the egg carrying carousels each have aplurality of egg carriers rotatably disposed around a horizontal axis,further comprising an egg shell breaking knife for breaking the eggshells while in the egg carriers, further comprising an egg yolkbreaking device disposed under a portion of each carrousel.
 36. A deviceas in claim 35, in which the egg yolk breaking device includes a platehaving a depression having an orifice with sharp edges for rupturing theegg yolk sac.
 37. A device as in claim 35, in which the egg yolkbreaking device has an orifice for receiving a falling liquid whole eggand having sharp edges for rupturing the egg yolk sac of the falling eggyolk.
 38. A device as in claim 35, further comprising a belt having alength dimension and a width dimension adapted to move in the lengthdimension, in which the belt includes a plurality of egg molds includinga plurality of egg receiving depressions oriented along the widthdimension, in which the mold depressions have an irregular shapedoutline.
 39. A device for cooking cracked, liquid whole eggs comprising:an egg breaking device comprising a plurality of vertically oriented eggcarrying carousels, wherein the egg carrying carousels each have aplurality of egg carriers rotating around a horizontal axis, furthercomprising an egg shell breaking knife for breaking the egg shells whilein the egg carriers; and a conveyor having a length dimension and awidth dimension adapted to move in the length dimension, in which theconveyor includes a plurality of egg molds including a plurality of eggreceiving depressions oriented along the width dimension, wherein theconveyor is disposed under the egg breaking device to capture fallingliquid egg from the egg breaking device.
 40. A device as in claim 39,further comprising a cooking oven to receive the moving conveyor havingthe egg in the conveyor depressions.
 41. A device as in claim 39, inwhich the depressions have an irregular shaped outline.
 42. A device asin claim 39, further comprising an egg yolk breaking device disposedbetween the egg breaking device and the mold depressions to break theegg yolks.
 43. A device as in claim 39, further comprising egg delectorsdisposed between the egg breaking device and the mold depressions todeflect falling liquid eggs laterally to fall into the mold depressions.44. A device as in claim 42, in which the egg yolk breaking deviceincludes a plate having a depression having an orifice with sharp edgesfor rupturing the egg yolk sac.
 45. A device as in claim 42, in whichthe egg yolk breaking device has an orifice for receiving a fallingliquid whole egg and having sharp edges for rupturing the egg yolk sacof the falling egg yolk.
 46. A cooked, cooled egg product comprising: aplurality of cooked egg products having an irregular shaped outline, inwhich a substantial portion of the eggs have the same irregular shapedoutline, in which the cooked egg products have a temperature of lessthan 30 degrees Centigrade.
 47. A cooked egg product as in claim 46, inwhich the eggs are essentially all whole cooked eggs having intactyolks.
 48. A cooked egg product as in claim 46, in which the eggs areessentially all whole cooked eggs having broken yolks.
 49. A cooked eggproduct as in claim 46, in which the eggs are cooked scrambled eggs. 50.A cooked egg product as in claim 46, in which the eggs are cookedformulated egg products.
 51. A cooked egg product as in claim 46, havinga substantially planar bottom shape.
 52. A cooked egg product as inclaim 46, in which the plurality of egg products have an irregularlyshaped surface having a height which varies irregularly over thesurface, in which a substantial portion of the eggs have the sameirregularly shaped surface.
 53. A cooked egg product as in claim 46,having a raised height yolk portion surrounded by a lower height eggwhite portion.
 54. A cooked egg product as in claim 53, in which theyolk is a formulated yolk.
 55. A method for mass producing cooked eggs,the method comprising: depositing egg products having yolks into aplurality of molds, wherein the molds have a first depression and asecond depression disposed with the first depression; allowing the yolksto settle into the second depression; cooking the deposited egg productsin the molds; removing the cooked egg products from the molds; andcooling the cooked egg products below 30 degrees Celsius.
 56. A methodas in claim 55, in which the egg product includes whole eggs, in whichthe depositing includes depositing the whole eggs.
 57. A method as inclaim 55, in which the egg product includes whole eggs having intactyolks, in which the depositing includes depositing the whole eggs havingintact yolks.
 58. A method as in claim 55, in which the egg productincludes formulated eggs and the yolks are formulated yolks, in whichthe depositing includes depositing the formulated yolks into the seconddepression.
 59. A method for making cooked whole eggs, the methodcomprising: mechanically conveying a plurality of whole eggs, the eggshaving a shell and egg contents including an egg yolk and an egg white;mechanically breaking the conveyed plurality of egg shells; allowing theegg contents to fall into a plurality of molds; mechanically conveyingthe molds containing the egg contents into a heating area; and cookingthe egg contents in the molds.
 60. A method as in claim 59, in which themechanically egg conveying, egg breaking, and mold conveying includemechanisms selected from the group consisting of pneumatic, electrical,magnetic, hydraulic, purely mechanical, and electromechanical mechanismsand combinations thereof.
 61. A method as in claim 59, in which themechanically conveying includes mechanically carrying each egg in an eggcarrier.
 62. A method as in claim 59, in which the egg shell mechanicalbreaking includes breaking the egg shell with a knife.
 63. A method asin claim 59, in which the molds are joined together into a closed loopof linked molds, and in which the mold conveying includes moving theloop having the molds toward the heating area.
 64. A method as in claim59, in which the molds have an irregular shaped outline, such thatcooked eggs have a resulting irregular shaped outline.
 65. A method asin claim 59, in which the molds have an irregular shaped bottom surface,such that the cooked eggs have a resulting irregular shaped surface. 66.A method as in claim 59, in which the molds have a first depression anda second depression located within the first depression furthercomprising disposing the egg yolks in the second depression.
 67. Amethod as in claim 59, in which the molds have a symmetrical outline,such that the cooked eggs have a symmetrical outline.
 68. A method as inclaim 59, in which the molds have a rounded outline, such that thecooked eggs have a rounded outline.
 69. A method as in claim 59, furthercomprising breaking the yolks of substantially all of the eggs.
 70. Amethod as in claim 69, in which the yolk breaking includes allowing theyolk to fall through a sharp device for rupturing the egg yolk sac. 71.A method for making cooked whole eggs having an egg shell and eggcontents including egg yolk and egg white, the method comprising:automatically conveying whole eggs to an egg breaking location;automatically breaking the egg shells of the whole eggs; allowing thecontents of one whole egg to fall into one mold; automatically conveyingeach mold into a heating area; and cooking the egg contents in each moldin the heating area.